Timeline in case against two Reuters Myanmar journalists

January 11, 2019

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent 13 months in jail since being arrested as they investigated atrocities against Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s army.

Their conviction for breaching the Official Secrets Act has been condemned around the world as an assault on media freedom and shattered the image of Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s as a rights defender.

Their appeal was dismissed on Friday.

Here is a timeline of key events in the case.

December 12, 2017

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo meet police for dinner at a Yangon restaurant and are handed a roll of documents.

They are arrested straight afterwards and held under the Official Secrets Act for possessing documents regarding a military crackdown in Rakhine state against Rohingya Muslims.

Their whereabouts are unknown for two weeks and they later tell the court they were hooded, deprived of sleep and interrogated.

December 19, 2017

Myanmar’s military says it found 10 bodies in a grave at Inn Din in northern Rakhine state, epicentre of the crackdown against stateless Rohingya. Reuters had been investigating in the area.

January 10, 2018

Myanmar’s army says security forces killed 10 Rohingya men at Inn Din, admitting for the first time extra-judicial killings by its forces against the Rohingya during the 2017 crackdown.

Seven soldiers are later charged and convicted for the massacre. But the Reuters pair remain in custody.

February 8, 2018

Reuters publishes its report into the Inn Din massacre and says the journalists were arrested for probing it.

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The Peter Mackler Award honors reporters and editors who have demonstrated a commitment to fairness, accuracy and speaking truth to power, and a matching commitment to asserting the right to publish or air that story in countries where independent media is under threat.